End of an era at Milan; in more than one way. The Rossoneri qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2013, but they will play the competition next year without Gigio Donnarumma, who has been the starting goalkeeper of Milan since 2015, since he was 16.
Donnarumma grew up at Milan and has been a fan of the club since he was a young kid. However, he has failed to come to an agreement with the management over the renewal of his contract and has decided to walk away as a free agent at the end of his current deal, which expires on June 30.
Paolo Maldini, Frederic Massara and Ivan Gazidis tried to convince Donnarumma to stay until the last minute – but on their terms. The goalkeeper, on the other side, made huge salary demands that the club did not want to satisfy and so comes the end of the relationship between Gigio and Milan.
Fabrizio Romano is reporting that AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is set to be out of contract with the club in about a month. The player is likely set to leave for free given the arrival of Mike Maignan from LOSC Lille. The Rossoneri goalkeeper was offered a massive deal but did not seem to want to renew.
Mike Maignan will undergo his medicals with AC Milan in the next hours. He’s gonna sign until June 2026, AC Milan are paying €13m to Lille + add ons [€15m total]. 🔴⚫️ #ACMilan
Donnarumma is set to be out of contract and free agent in 36 days, still no agreement with Milan. 🚫
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 24, 2021
Antonio Vitiello is reporting that Milan have not submitted another offer since the 8 million euros per year for 5 years was submitted. Donnarumma and Raiola did not provide any response hence the club made other arrangements as they do not want to be held hostage by any single player.
Il #Milan ha provato fino all’ultimo a convincere #Donnarumma (8 mln per 5 anni), lui ha fatto altre scelte. Un club come il #Milan non può essere ostaggio di nessuno. Giusta la scelta di chiudere subito #Maignan senza più attendere, nonostante il danno economico creato da Gigio
— Antonio Vitiello (@AntoVitiello) May 25, 2021
Gianluca di Marzio via MilanEye is reporting that Donnarumma was not expecting Milan to look elsewhere for a keeper. The player does not have an agreement with any other club. The report continues to note that the directors prefer to lose Donnarumma for free than struggle with the exchanges with Raiola.
🚨 Donnarumma did not expect Milan to conclude the signing of a new goalkeeper so fast. There was no discussion on the agent’s commission because there was no agreement reached for the contract renewal itself. Donnarumma has no agreement with any other club
[@DiMarzio] pic.twitter.com/7gjxcQIcjB
— Milan Eye (@MilanEye) May 25, 2021
Vito Angele is reporting that Raiola thought Milan would raise their offer following the UCL qualification but the Rossoneri chose not to engage, with Maignan the club will save over 50 million euros over the next 5 years.
Raiola believed that milan would raise their offer after qualifying for the Champions League. But the club made the right decision. Milan will save more than 50 million euros over the next five years thanks to the Donnarumma/Maignan switch
— Vito Angelè (@VitoAngele) May 26, 2021
According to MilanNews, Raiola has always wanted Donnarumma to leave Milan for free and did everything to make it happen, even refusing an excellent offer from the club.
Donnarumma had everything to become a symbol of this Milan and to break records, but his time here is over.
